being incarnational

we had our community gathering tonight, the 3rd sunday of lent. we had a discussion about what it means to be incarnational in our spiritual journal. i think this is something missed by many of the protestant persuasion who tend to fall prey to pseudo-gnostic views of the world. what i mean by that is that many people i know practice an unconscious belief that Christianity is primarily about spiritual things and physical, material things are of lesser value or importance. some take this to the extreme that any physical pleasure must have some inherent sinfulness attached to it so they don't dance, don't go to movies, don't drink, etc. their spirituality is likewise devoid of any valued physical components. that's not the way it's supposed to be.

we weren't created to be disembodied spirits. God purposefully created us to be flesh, blood and spirit. one day we will die and experience the separation of our spirit from our bodies, but this is not the original plan for us. it is the fruit & residue of original sin, and one day that will be reversed. we recite in the apostle's creed that we believe "in the resurrection of the body." on that final day we will be reunited with a new resurrected, glorified body and we will experience eternity in flesh, blood & spirit as God intended.

the early church struggled against the gnostics, a hodgepodge of various heresies all sharing in common a dualistic worldview that declared the spiritual good and the physical evil. the gnostic legacy lives on in much of christendom in the form of warped views about sexuality, iconoclasm, devaluation of the arts, or passionless expressions of the faith. the scriptures are full of examples of our incarnate God redeeming and valuing the physical as a means of experiencing and entering into the spiritual. Jesus used spit (mk 7:33) and mud (jn 9:6) to heal. people touched handkerchiefs to paul & then used them to heal loved ones (acts 19:12). God commanded moses to lift a bronze serpent on a staff so the israelites could see it and be healed (numbers 21:9). of course the old testament is full of the use of physical signs & symbols as given and commanded by God in temple worship. ultimately God himself became Incarnate, becoming flesh & blood--and he still is in flesh & blood human form in heaven.

so how do we become intentionally incarnational in our spirituality? there are plenty of examples, but here are a few. the sacraments are a great example of incarnational spirituality, physical outward signs of an inward spiritual reality. the bread & wine of Eucharist and water of baptism are very concrete physical realities redeemed by God's action. we use a liturgical calendar and colors to mark the seasons of the year to remind us of the ebb & flow of life, the sacred rhythm placed in us & creation by God. candles call us to remember Christ, Light of the world. incense is a visual image of our prayers rising up before God. i use an anglican rosary in prayer as a way to involve my body in entering into meditation. some where crosses as jewelry, but it can also be a powerful reminder throughout the day of our Savior. although most associate making the sign of the cross with catholicism its practice can be traced back to the 4th century as a means of marking oneself for Christ.